#1 Time to Think
If you are reading this as a parent, you may hear children in the background. They may be sitting on your lap or calling your name. Regardless, the little people we are raising are with us a large majority throughout the day. It’s important to set aside time for you to be in a quiet environment to allow yourself time to think. When we have time to think, we can slow down and consider the things we want to do or need to do. We can write them down and have those thoughts stored in a place that will not fail us when our overtired, overworked brain will!
#2 Allow for Time to DO
Don’t rush life or life will feel harder than it should. Waiting until the last minute for things because you probably didn’t allow for #1 (above) will bring feelings of overwhelm, guilt, regret, and a sense of overall disappointment in yourself for, let’s say, forgetting to get your mother a birthday card because you haven’t had a chance to sit down, think then allow for time to go to the store and get the card! Time to THINK and Time to DO. When we were in the season of little itty bitty babies. My time to Think was thirty minutes before the kids woke up. My time to do was usually an hour of errands alone on the weekend when my husband was home with the kiddos.
#3 Less is More Mindset
The less you have, the less you have to clean, organize, fix, find, replace…the list can go on! I read the book, The Art of Tidying up a few years ago and it inspired me to CLEAN HOUSE. I need to do this again because with three children, I am not the only one collecting stuff.
#4 Ask for HELP
Your brain may not have a natural organizational tendency. That’s okay. You can watch YouTube videos for ideas on how to organize a closet and drawers. You can go to the Container Store and look at displays for ideas. Better yet, invite an organized friend over for a cup of joe and pick her brain on how you can organize a certain space in your house. I did this a few years ago when my friend Erica came over to teach me how to properly load the dishwasher. I called on Erica again when I wanted to re-organize our kitchen drawers. I asked her to take a picture of her drawers for me to give me ideas. Another great resource is Pinterest!
#5 Binders and Folders
For papers you just can not do without (school stuff that doesn’t come digitally) create binders or folders to store this information. However, if you don’t ever look at this information, why are you saving it? Toss it out! Think of folders and this philosophy on email and your computer too. Make folders to keep things organized, but toss things in the trash when they are not being used.
Bonus: Sign up for our newsletter to receive our free Grocery Shopping List which has a space for your child to participate in the shopping with you! Another way I stay organized is by Meal Planning. Plan out 6 out of 7 meals on a Saturday. Grocery shop on Sunday and Voila! The stress of mealtime is cut in half, knowing what I will make!
What keeps YOU organized? I would love to hear your ideas. Email me! info@cardinalrulepress.com
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